


falling in love with a stranger

by kickassfu



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drunk Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Flirting, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, POV Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), awkward bois, kinda lol, uber driver merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25252216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kickassfu/pseuds/kickassfu
Summary: “You’re not very eloquent when drunk are you?”That sounds like something Arthur would get offended by, but out of Merlin’s lips it’s more like teasing and endearing than offensive, and he’s not sure how to react. “I am perfectly eloq- eloqu-. I am perfectly able to speak when drunk, thank you very much.”“I think you’re perfectly adorable.” Merlin whispers, and Arthur isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating it or if he’s passed out or what, but there’s a warmth spreading in his belly from how delighted and pleased he feels at hearing that.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 172





	falling in love with a stranger

**Author's Note:**

> a wonderful friend sent me another merthur prompt: you’re my cute uber driver and you’re funny and sweet and i think i’m starting to get feelings for you oh god why am i like this au
> 
> and even though i have never once used Uber lol I hope I made it justice ^^ enjoy it!

Arthur is a responsible member of society, truly. He might get blackout drunk (not really, he won’t let it get quite that far), but he refuses to drink and drive. Which is why he loves Uber so much, it’s like having a (not so) fancy chauffeur picking you up from a night out and driving you home. Well, sometimes the driver is too chatty and annoying, which Arthur sort of hates.

Usually.

So it’s more than a little weird that Arthur is completely enchanted with his driver right now, _Merlin_ he said, when he hasn’t stopped talking once. It might be all the alcohol. It has to be all the alcohol. Right?

It probably doesn’t help that he’s sitting in the passenger seat right besides him; not that he wanted to, Gwaine just dumped his _royally drunk arse_ (Gwaine’s words not his) right there, and Arthur didn’t think he could make his feet work well enough to get out of the car and sit in the back seat. Also, it would be slightly rude, not that he _usually_ cared about being rude, but the whole situation is turning out to be very weird.

He could see Merlin glance at him more than once, as he spoke about anything and everything - Arthur wasn’t really paying attention to anything but Merlin’s lips, and his eyes, and his ears, well his whole face really, although his hands gripping the steering wheel were also kind of hot and-

“You doing ok there, mate?” Merlin asks smiling, but also a little concerned.

“I’m grand. Just- maybe, a little drunk.”

“Right, a _little_ drunk.” Merlin nods mock seriously, even as his eyes spark with mischief. Arthur can’t bring himself to look away; he probably looks like an absolute idiot, staring at Merlin like that, but in the moment his brain is quite stuck in _captivated_ mode. Or _drunk-off-his-arse_ mode. Basically he can’t jump out of the metaphorical train he’s stuck in, and Arthur isn’t even sure he’d like to get off the train in the first place, he’s enjoying himself immensely looking at Merlin’s beautiful face.

Being so distracted as Arthur was, appreciating the man’s otherworldly beauty, he only tuned in for the last words of Merlin’s question, “-special occasion?”

“Huh?” he asks stupidly; and really how much more ridiculous is he going to look at the end of this night.

“I was asking if there was a special reason to get drunk tonight. Or if it was just what you regularly do with your mates.”

“Oh.” Arthur sighs, trying to get his brain to work, until he hears Merlin laughing and gets distracted again, “Why are you laughing?”

“You’re not very eloquent when drunk are you?”

That sounds like something Arthur would get offended by, but out of Merlin’s lips it’s more like teasing and endearing than offensive, and he’s not sure how to react. “I am perfectly eloq- _eloqu-_. I am perfectly able to speak when drunk, thank you very much.”

“I think you’re perfectly adorable.” Merlin whispers, and Arthur isn’t sure if he’s hallucinating it or if he’s passed out or what, but there’s a warmth spreading in his belly from how delighted and pleased he feels at hearing that.

Ignoring the moment, Merlin keeps talking. About the music on the radio, and then in general, to the other passengers he had through the day ( _“They were practically humping each other, which isn’t the first time it’s happened to me, weirdly enough, and I started thinking maybe I should stock up on condoms and just give them out when this happens. Do you think that’s too much? It might be too much.”_ ) and slowly but surely, Arthur fell asleep while listening to his low voice.

He’s always been a pretty sleepy drunk, so it’s nothing strange, but Arthur regrets not staying awake to enjoy Merlin’s company. Like two passing ships in the night, right? Or whatever that saying is; it’ll be an encounter Arthur won’t forget soon.

Feeling someone softly shaking him, “Wake up, we’re here.” he opens one of his eyes to see Merlin stare at him completely (and that’s definitely enough to wake _him_ up, in more ways than one).

“Wha-?”

“You’re home, do you need help getting out?” Merlin asks, his hand still on Arthur’s arm (it fucking burns him from the inside out). But before Arthur can answer, Merlin’s already outside of the car, and a second later, pulling open his door to help him out.

_He smells good_ , Arthur thinks, his body clinging to Merlin’s _._ Which is just unfair, he looks good, feels good, and smells good? That should be illegal.

Merlin is laughing again, and maybe he’s just said all of that outloud, or maybe it’s because his nose is tickling Merlin’s neck, it doesn’t really matter. Melin isn’t upset, he seems happy, like he’s enjoying himself, which is good. Great. Arthur is enjoying this too.

They’re already at his door, and Merlin props him against the wall when he sees Arthur isn’t taking out his keys to open it. Taking that job out of Arthur’s hands, he carefully and respectfully gropes Arthur’s pockets till he finds the key - Arthur would be more than happy if Merlin groped him a little more throughroughly than that, but he’s drunk and that’d be bad. Right? Bad. Very bad.

_Fuck_ , he’s drunker than he thought.

He doesn’t even notice anything happening, not the door opening, not the walking through his house, nothing, until he’s being deposited in his bed, Merlin taking his shoes off.

Arthur wants to joke about Uber’s thorough service, or about special service, or something equally stupid, but his tongue feels heavy, and his eyes even heavier.; all he can manage is a mangled “ _Thank you”_ , before he passes out. At least he hopes he managed to say thank you.

The whole falling in love with strangers thing has always felt a little silly to Arthur, but as he falls asleep he’s quite sure he’s fallen, _hard_. Perhaps he’s just horny. Maybe drunk and horny equals the sensation of love.

It’s not like he’ll ever see Merlin again.

* * *

Arthur sees Merlin again.

Maybe fate doesn’t actually hate him after all. And yup, it was not the being drunk that got him feeling like he had butterflies in his stomach like a fifteen year old girl at the sight of Merlin. Great.

At least Merlin hasn’t noticed him yet, which is good? He can just walk away, put everything behind him (improbable) and forget it ever happened (impossible). What he definitely shouldn’t do, is bother his one-time Uber driver as he is seemingly having breakfast in peace. Because not only would that be weird and awkward, it’d be a little creepy and perhaps stalkerish. So he should definitely not do that.

“Hey.” well fuck, he went and did it after all. Merlin finally looks up from his phone, and when he realizes who he’s looking at (Arthur assumes, or hopes that’s the reason) he smiles the most brilliant, wonderful smile, Arthur has ever seen.

“Hi there.” Merlin says, probably expecting Arthur to say something back, because that’s usually how conversations work. But Arthur is so panicked over everything all he can do is stand and stare, which-

Not good.

Thankfully, Merlin is an amazingly kind person and cuts out the awkwardness, “I thought you’d be more eloquent sober. Guess I was wrong. Unless you have a tendency to get drunk at 7am, which I hope not. You certainly don’t look drunk. You look good.”

When Merlin finishes his rambling, Arthur is pretty sure Merlin’s blushing, and bloody hell, he looks even prettier like that. It makes him feel slightly more centered though, to know that Merlin might be as affected as he is; he certainly doesn’t seem like he wants Arthur to leave.

“Can I-” he starts asking, grabbing the chair in front of Merlin, but before he can even finish it, Merlin’s answering, “Please sit.”

It’s cute. Endearing even. And Arthur is too far gone on him now to do anything but look at him fondly.

There’s another moment of silent awkwardness, neither knowing what to say probably, but once again Merlin breaks it, “Was the hangover too bad? I wanted to leave you some water and some pills, but I wasn’t about to sneak around your house looking for them.”

“No. Yeah. I mean, the hangover was bad- but, what I’m trying to say is thank you. You went above and beyond your job to help me, and I appreciate it.”

“Well I didn’t do it ‘cause it was my job. It was just the decent thing to do, and I wanted you to be safe- well, you know. To get to bed safe. No bumps and bruises, or falling on your arse. So...glad I could help.”

“Yes, as I said, very appreciated. Not everyone is as kind as you are.”

Merlin’s looking at him wide-eyed, considering, a little smile on his face as he finishes up his drink (coffee? hot chocolate? it didn’t matter, not really, but Arthur yearned to know what Merlin liked to drink, how he’d taste like if Arthur kissed him right now).

As if Merlin finally made up his mind, biting his lower lip he reaches up across the table to grab Arthur’s hands. Arthur took the change to squeeze Merlin’s hands right back, enjoying their warmth, their roughness.

Looking happy that Arthur didn’t push him away, Merlin pulls Arthur’s right hand to his lips and kisses it, “This might be too forward, too fast, and Gods I know it’s too bloody strange, but I feel like I’d be an idiot if I didn’t do this. I almost left you my number the other night but chickened out at the end, and fuck if I’m going to let you slip through my fingers again. So, would you like to go on a date with me? Because I haven’t been able to get you off my mind for the last few days.”

Arthur was caught off guard, which in retrospective is stupid, seeing as Merlin just grabbed his hands and kissed one of them, but still-

It’s unexpected.

“Yes, obviously yes. Since the moment I laid my eyes on you I’ve wanted you. It’s all a bit mad, but since it’s reciprocated I say let’s do it.”

Merlin laughed, “Let’s be mad together?”

“I think we already are.” Arthur shrugged, smiling wide and open and free. He feels like all his life he was waiting for a moment, for this moment right here. For Merlin.

“I’m ok with that.”

It’d be a wonderful story to tell down the line. _‘Where did you meet?’_ someone would ask and he’d answer, _‘I was drunk off my arse, and he was the kindest, most beautiful Uber driver I’ve ever seen. And then we met at a coffee shop, as if fate itself pushed us together.’_

Pretty much perfect.

And as daft as it is, Arthur can’t wait to spend the rest of his life with Merlin. Somehow, he’s sure that’s inevitable.

Uber will definitely be his favorite app until the day he dies; not only does he bring him home when he’s drunk, it’s also brought him the love of his life (he’s certain of it...well almost).

**Author's Note:**

> i'm also kickassfu on tumblr~~


End file.
